Comparison of groups with positive and negative NCS results
| VARIABLE | POSITIVE NCS RESULTS N = 121 | NEGATIVE NCS RESULTS N = 90 | PVALUE (2-TAILED) | 95% CI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) age, y | 49.08 (12.92) | 43.54 (10.45) | .001 | −8.81 to −2.26 |
| Male, % | 27.3 | 24.4 | .643 | NC |
| Mean (SD) symptom duration, mo | 33.07 (49.53) | 24.21(25.63) | .095 | −19.26 to 1.55 |
| Mean (SD) BMI | 30.61 (6.82) | 27.45 (5.5) | < .001 | −4.89 to −1.43 |
| Mean (SD) Levine symptomatic score* | 29.82 (7.46) | 27.34 (7.01) | .016† | −4.50 to −0.47 |
| Mean (SD) Levine functional score* | 15.40 (5.52) | 14.58 (4.87) | .267 | −2.27 to 0.63 |
| Missed work, %(n = 29) | 55.2 | 44.8 | .855 | NC |
| WCB cases, % (n = 13) | 38.5 | 61.5 | .215 | NC |
BMI—body mass index, CI—confidence interval, NC—not calculated, NCS—nerve conduction study, SD—standard deviation, WCB—Workers’ Compensation Board.
↵* Minimum and maximum cumulative symptom scores on the Levine scoring instrument are 11 and 55, respectively; minimum and maximum cumulative function scores are 8 and 40, respectively. Higher scores are associated with greater severity of disease.
↵† Not significant when corrected for multiple comparisons.